Concepts of Time Travel

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Concepts of Time Travel

Some people live their lives focused on the present. Then there are those who constantly look ahead, striving to achieve greater things in the future. Regardless of how you look at life, one thing is the same for all of us: time. Time is a train that keeps on chugging no matter what; we are all on this moving train whether we like it or not. What if it was somehow possible to get off the train and board a slower train where time moved slower? Since the train represents time, you age slower on the second train. Once you reboard the faster train, you’d be in the future relative to when you first got off the first train; this is the concept of time travel. Most people at one time or another have been exposed to this concept, though usually through television and movies. In reality, time travel is strictly a theory if not a possiblity. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity opens the door towards the possiblity of time travel. One possible means of time travel is through black holes. On the other side of a black hole is a white hole, while wormholes connect the two. Despite criticism and lack of support, physics tells us that time travel is indeed possible and that the answers lie within the phenomena of space.

First, we must look at Einstein’s theory of relativity. Einstein proved that time can travel at different speeds, and that the speed at which time travels depends upon the state of motion of the observer. The key here is that time is relative to speed and position. For instance, if a traveller decides to travel from the earth to the sun at twice the speed of light, it will take him 250 years to get there since light takes 500 years to reach the sun. Meanwhile, a person observing from earth will age 500 years once the traveller arrives at the sun. When the traveller returns to earth, he will be able to see himself at the sun. This example illustrates the illusion of time; time for the traveller has slowed down due to the remarkable speed of his spaceship. The earth is now 1,000 years older, while the traveller is only 500 years older.

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